Brussels – Seeking cooperation with China, but ready to do without Beijing if relations become impossible. The European Union views the People’s Republic as the answer to Trump’s America, in a bilateral summit that comes at a delicate and potentially strategic juncture. The Presidents of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and of the European Council, Antonio Costa, will travel to Asia next week (July 24 and 25) to try to redefine relations with China in a twofold attempt to write a new trade chapter and secure leverage to respond to US tariffs.
It is not an easy mission, and they are well aware of this in Brussels. China is an uncomfortable, difficult counterpart, before whom the EU finds itself in a rather awkward — and even less enviable — position. The country was explicitly identified as a threat to the European Union, its interests, and its security, and has been placed on the list of ‘bad guys.’ Yet, the EU now turns to it for support in trying to extricate itself from the corner into which the White House has pushed the Europeans.
There are trade tensions between Brussels and Beijing, including European tariffs on Chinese electric cars, Chinese overproduction of steel, which floods global markets with cheap products, and ties into the restrictions imposed by the United States on the same commodity. Then there is the question of reciprocity, rules of the game that are still too different: China does not allow entry into its market, and distorts the global one with government subsidies. Nevertheless, one wants to use the opportunity of the 25th EU-China summit to at least try to lay the groundwork for a new course, and to send a message to Trump.
Von der Leyen and Costa will go to Beijing to see Xi Jinping (president) and Li Qiang (prime minister) “in a positive and constructive spirit,” they admit in Brussels. After all, there would be no point in holding a summit if expectations were minimal and even less than minimal. “We are not ready to compromise on values, but we are ready to trade if the conditions are there,” Brussels insiders admit. “We will reiterate that we are a reliable partner,” EU officials say. The aim is to mark distances and differences in relation to the US. Of course, reciprocity and the absence of market distortion remain the objectives, without which the EU is prepared to seek other markets. At the moment, “diversification, not risk reduction, is the approach to take with China.”
Proof of this is the summit with Japan, ahead of the one with China. Von der Leyen and Costa will first fly to Tokyo (July 23) to discuss three main topics of cooperation: security and defense, trade and economic security, and the defense of multilateralism and the rules-based international order. The last two points are in response to US policies. A logic that clashes with the visit that will follow in Beijing. The EU-Japan summit will be an opportunity to “put pressure” on the People’s Republic, they admit in Brussels, on issues such as the global and regional order, as well as a ban on support for Russia. Things that will not please the Chinese leadership, which is generally unfavorable to interference in internal decisions and maneuvering in a part of the world where China has numerous interests.
China’s ambitions extend beyond Taiwan, which it considers part of the country. In the South China Sea, the Spratly Islands are the subject of a Sino-Philippine dispute. Although de facto located in Manila’s exclusive economic zone, Beijing continues to challenge this claim. The EU revived its partnership with the Philippines without recognizing Chinese territorial claims, effectively siding with the latter. This is yet another element that can be used against the EU.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
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